My 10-year-old niece, Isha, who attends 6th grade in New Jersey, visited the orphanage with me recently. Since there were a lot of 6th graders there, we got together as a group and the kids shared their experiences learning languages in the different settings. They talked about books they read, what kinds of tests they had, and topics they liked to write about. The discussions occurred in Hindi, Bengali, and English.

This is one of our coolest videos! The youngest kids get together and talk about their mother tongues, and other languages that are closest to them. The best fun ensues! One child says his favorite language is Hindi because he’s Hindu; one gives us a taste of Bihari, another of Nepalese, and yet another of Bengali. Check it out below!

My tiny 5-year-old niece, Ms. Bela Battu, visiting from New York, came with me to the orphanage yesterday. She and the kids conversed a little. The kids at the orphanage were stunned that she could speak Hindi, Bengali, and English with them, given that she’s “from America.” We worked on farm animals from a FUN book, and the new (related) blog posts are up here: http://vishwashaanti2009.wordpress.com/

We had a new visitor from New York today: my sister, Urmi. She came and spent some time teaching the kids English and giving them some practice in conversational English. We selected a short clip from the visit:

The kids video recorded each other describing the villages they come from. The kids come from villages in North, South, and East India. The kids first wrote up the answers in English and Hindi, then spoke into the camera.

Today the orphanage received a VERY special guest, Daniel Solomon, an anthropology doctoral student from the United States. He came and spent some time with the kids, speaking to them in Hindi and English. Danny explained (using a globe) where he came from, and engaged the students in discussions about the kinds of sports and games people play in the United States, making good use of a whiteboard. The children had questions for Danny about his family, his work in India, and what he was studying. When Danny left, the kids kept asking him to return tomorrow: “डैनी भय्या कल आयेंगे, ना?”! We are VERY hopeful he’ll be back soon!

Here’s a short video clip of Danny showing where he lives and his family lives, and then a small gallery of photos for the visit.

So, after the day’s study session, during which we did some exercises with school vocabulary, and story time, most of the boys ran upstairs to watch an Indian cartoon, a version of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana (रामायण). A few of the boys lingered, when I asked them to introduce themselves on camera. Here’s the short clip, enjoy! The clip contains Hindi and English.